India chased down New Zealand's 180/5 with one ball to spare, taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series
Mitchell Santner's 4 for 21 reduced India to 112 for 6, leaving them needing 69 off 31 balls
Tilak Varma (51*) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26*) shared an unbeaten 7th-wicket stand of 69 to pull off a historic heist
In the India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, New Zealand posted 180/5 after being put into bat, powered by Glenn Phillips (70 off 43) and Bevon Jacobs (58 off 46), while Arshdeep Singh took 2 for 33.
In response, India’s chase was severely dented by Mitchell Santner’s brilliant spell of 4 for 21, leaving them in deep trouble. When Naman Dhir fell at 112 for 6, India still needed 69 from 31 balls and New Zealand looked home.
Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy then added an unbeaten 69 for the seventh wicket, and that stand won the second T20I by four wickets with one ball to spare. The partnership is now India’s highest for the seventh wicket in a successful T20I chase, overtaking the 59* that Yusuf and Irfan Pathan put together against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2009.
Among Full Member teams, it is also joint-second on the all-time list, matching the 69* by Chamika Karunaratne and Dasun Shanaka for Sri Lanka against Australia in Pallekele in 2022. Only Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain’s 82 for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in Mirpur in 2019 is bigger.
Reddy set the tone, bringing up the stand with a lofted four and later a six over mid-off. Between them, the two ran hard, converting ones into twos against a fielding side that was tiring and, in the final over, a man short because of a slow over-rate penalty.
Tilak was the aggressor. He took 17 off Nathan Smith’s 18th over with two fours and a six, and finished unbeaten on 51 off 26 balls. His half-century came in the last over, via a boundary through extra cover and a diving second run. Reddy contributed 26 not out off 13, and after a wide bumper left two needed off two, he took the winning two off Jacob Duffy with a ball to spare.
India had needed 68 off the last 30 balls, but the pair refused to panic and stayed calm under pressure. The victory seals a 181/6 finish, giving India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, landing as one of the more remarkable T20I chases in recent history.
Tilak Varma And Nitish Reddy Partnership - Stats
Highest 7th wicket stands in successful T20I chases (Full Member teams)
82 - Afif Hossain & Mosaddek Hossain (BAN) vs ZIM, Mirpur, 2019
69* - Chamika Karunaratne & Dasun Shanaka (SL) vs AUS, Pallekele, 2022
69* - Tilak Varma & Nitish Kumar Reddy (IND) vs NZ, Christchurch, 2026
64* - Wayne Parnell & Rusty Theron (SA) vs AUS, Johannesburg, 2011
59* - Yusuf Pathan & Irfan Pathan (IND) vs SL, Colombo (RPS), 2009
